Yournotadesigner.Whyshouldyoucare,atleastali5le,aboutdesign?Let’stakeahugestepbackandlookatthebigpictureforamoment.Whydoyouevenhaveawebsite?-  Showpeopleyourbrandiscredible-  Sellmorewidgets-  Convertmoreleads-  Getyourmessageout-  Helppeopledosomeprocess-  Getmorevisitorstoyourbrickandmortarestablishment-  AccomplishsomegoalUsually,peoplethinkthatifyouwanttoaccomplishgoalslikethese,yourfocusneedstobeonstrategy,content,andSEO.That’strue.Theythinkofdesignasa“nice-to-have”.

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Alotofdesignisthestuffthatpeopleappreciatesubconscioulyifit’sgood,butnoNceconsciouslyifit’sbad.[Whenasiteiswell-designed,it’smorecompellingUseableCredibleLikeableSNckyanddoesit’sjobbe5erinaccomplishingyourstrategicgoals]Here’swhatwillcovertoday.It’slotsofli5lethings,groupedinthesefourareas:HierarchyConsistencyColorType

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HierarchyAsadesigner,hierarchicalisoneofmyfavoritewords,eventhoughit’shardtosay.Onceyoustartthinkingabouthierarchy,somuchdesignfallsintoplace.Here’swhatImean.Oneverypage,themostimportantcontentonyoursiteshouldbethemostvisible.Thesecondmostimportantcontentshouldbesecondmostvisible.Thethirdmostimportantthingshouldbethethirdmostobvious.Andsoon.

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Onapagelikeyourhomepage,youmayopttoevenstopatoneortwoimportantthings,tomakethemblindinglyobvoius.Designiswhatmakesthethingsobvious.What’sthemostimportantthing?Usually,it’sverysimplecontentthatassuresyourvisitorsthey’reintherightplaceandoffersthemachancetodothethingyouwantthemtodo.Itshouldn’tcompetewithotherelements.HerearesometacNcs:

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-  Putitatthetop

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-  biggest

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-  It’sinacolorthatstandsout

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-  Afontthatstandsout

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-  Leavespacearoundit

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-  PeoplelookatpagesinanFpa5ern.-  Putyourcontentwherethey’llseeit.

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-  Groupedwithastrikingimageorpa5ern

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BADWhentherearetoomanychoicesthatseemequallyimportant,you’renotgivingyou’revisitorsmoreinrormaNonormoreopNons,you’rejustmissinganopporutnitytotellthemwheretolookanddowhatyouwantthemtodo.Humanslookforthethingthatbreaksthepa5ernorstandsout.Thiskindoflayoutjustmakesthemsad.

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SomeNmesyourmostimportantmessagemightbemorecomplicated.Formuseums,forexample,youmightneedtoshowarangeofcurrentexhibitstoenNcepeopletovisit.That’sok,maybeyouneedtouseaslider,butstaymindfulofthehierarchyanddon’tgivepeopletoomanycompeNngchoicesatonce.

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Asimpleexampleofhierarchyisthestylesthatcomebuilt-intoWordPress.Usually,youshouldbeabletodefinetheseinyourthemeopNons,pagebuilderopNonsorusingCSS.Visually,thewayyoumakethesestyleslookshouldreflecttheirimportanceinthehierarchy.Heading1(orH1)isthemostimportantandisusuallyuuedforpageNtles.Heading2(orH2)issecondmostimportantanisusuallyusedforpostNtlesandsubNtlesinyourtext.Heading3(orH3)isthirdmostimportantandisusedforsub-subheadsintextand,byconvenNon,ohenfortheNtlesofwidgetsinWordPress.TrynottochangetoomanycharacNcsofanelementatonce.RestraintIsleadstosomethinglookinglikegood,considereddesignmoreeasilythanusingeverystyleandfeatureyoucan.Forexample:MyH1hereisbigandpinkandcapsH2isali5lesmaller,andnotcapsH3isthesamesizebutthelessbold,textfont

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ConsistencyConsistencyissomethingweallunderstandingeneral.Andonthemacro-levelweknowweneedtobeconsistentwithourmarkeNng,wriNngourblogandhowourbrandpresentsitself.Butonamicro-level,consistencyisuptherewithhierarchyintermsofbigthingsthatcanhelpyourdesignworkbe5erandlookbe5er.Whenindoubt,goformakinglikethingsthesameratherthanaddingvariety.Whetheryou’redesigningwithCSSorchoosingopNonsinyourpremadethemeorpagebuilder,hereareabunchofdesignbitstobeconsistentabout:

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Bu5onsIftheyareforthesameorananalogouspurpose,makethemlookthesame.Usethesamesize,thesamefont,thesameeffects,thesamehovercolorandeffects,thesamepaddingandmargins(akaspacearoundthem).Linethemupthesameway(leh,rightorcenter)relaNvetothetextorimagesnearthem.Conversely,ifyouhaveabu5onthatconveyssomethingdifferent,andyouneeditstandout,makeitthesameastheothersbutchangeoneobviousaspect.Usuallythebackgroundcolor.

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COLORSWe’lltalkmoreabouthowtochoosecolorslater,butonceyouhaveapale5e,useitconsistently.Keeplikeandanalogousitemsorcontentthesamecolorthroughoutyoursite.EverysitehaselementsthatrepeatmanyNmesthroughout.Ifyoukeepthecolorsoftheserepeatedelementsconsistent,ithelpsyourvisitorstorecognizethemquicklyandnothavetothinkabouttheinterface.Thussavingtheirbrainpowerforyourcontentandmessage.Examples:•  PageNtlesarealwaysblue.•  Paragraphsoftypearealwaysdarkgrey.•  Linksarealwaysorange—bonuspointsforkeepingthesamelinkstylein

paragraphs,bulletlistsandsidebarwidgets!•  TesNmonialsgoinpinkboxes.

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SpacingYouwanttomakesurethespaceabove,belowandtothesidesoflikeelementsisthesame.Forexample:•  Alwayshavethesameamountofspacebetweenaheadingandaparagraph•  Havethesameamountofspaceahereachparagraph•  Usethesameamountofspacearoundimagesandhaveone,orafew,consistent

sizesandalignmentsfordisplayingimages•  Ifyouhaveabunchofwidgetsinasidebarorfooter,makesuretheyareevenly

spaced•  Makesurethatitemsinanymenuandsubmenuareevenlyspaced

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AlignmentThefewerdifferentalignmentsonasite,theNdieritisgoingtolookandtheyeasieritwillbetounderstand.Forexample:•  Usually,youaregoingtowantallyourtexttobeleh-jusNfied.They’remaybe

occasionswherecenter-orright-alignmentiscalledforbutdon’tgomixingthemupto“createinterest”.

•  Wheneverpossible,thinkaboutwhetheranitemisliningupwiththethingsaboveandbelowit.Forexample,yourblockquotesandbulletlistsarebothindented.PerhapsindenNngthemthesameamountwouldkeepthingsvisuallysimpler.

•  Maybethelehindentforallyourtextisthesameastheindentforyoulogo.•  Itdoesn’thavetobeeverysingleelement—“breakingthegrid”isavaliddesign

technique—butkeepingelementslinedupwillmakeyourdesignseempurposefulandunclu5eredinawaythatincreasescomprehension.

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Youdon’tneedtoknowcolortheory.Herearelotsofhackstogetcoolcolorsforyoursite.

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Hack1:keepitsimpleYoucanmakeanicesitewithonlytwocolors,especiallyifyou’reusingphotostoo.Iwouldsuggestspringingbetween2and5.Themorerestrainedyourpale5etheeasieritwillbetomakeacoherentdesign.

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Hack2:rememberwhatyou’retryingtoconveyYoucolorpale5eshouldreflectyourbrandandyouraudience.Ifyou’vegonethroughtheexercise,whichIhighlyrecommend,ofchoosingsomebrandadjecNvesorguidingwords,theseshoulddescribeyourcolorpale5etoo.Forexample,you’vedecidedyourbrandis:YoungFreshInnovaNveWhatkindofcolorsdoesthatsuggesttoyou?Thereisn’tarightanswer.Therearelotsofpossiblerightanswers,buttherearesomeprobableincongruous,ordareIsay,wronganswers.Or,yourbrandis:EstablishedConservaNveDependableWhatpale5edoesthatsuggest?

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Hack3:neutralsplusabrightortwo

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Hack4:colorsfromaphotoh5p://labs.Nneye.com/color/

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Hack4:colorsfromaphotoh5p://labs.Nneye.com/color/Also:www.pictaculous.com(fromphoto)www.degraeve.com/color-pale5e(fromimageonweb)

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Hack5:colorsfromawordpale5r.com/Putinaword(place,feeling,season,animal)getpale5tes

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Hack#6Choosecolorsfromartwww.colorlisa.com(fromart)

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Hack#7Therearelotsofsiteswithpremadepale5esforyoutostealwithimpunity!colorhuntDesign-seeds.com

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Hack#8IntuiNve,funColorpale5egeneratorsColor.hailpixel.comcoolors.co

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Hack#8.5Colortheorybased,robustpale5egeneratorsPale5on.comcolor.adobe.com/create/color-wheel

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Personally,Ithinktypographyisthecat’spajamas.InfactanewbookenNrelyaboutPalaNnocameoutrecentlythatI’mpre5yexitedtoread.Luckilyforyou,thisisashorttalk,soI’mjustgoingtogiveyousomehacksforgeqnggoodfontsonyoursite,stat.Studiesshowthatgoodtypographyputspeopleinbe5ermoodanddisposesthemtofeelmoreposiNvelyaboutthecontent.Italsoincreasescomprehensionofthecontent.

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Hack1:Choose2fontsforyourwholesiteLikecolors,arestrainedpale5eoffontsforyoursitewillmakeitlookmoreprofessionalandmakeiteasierforyoutodesign.ThegeneraladviceoutthereistokeepitsimplebyusingjusttwofontsonasiteOneforheadlinesandoneforbodycopyPersonally,Iliketoaddathirdtothat,forinterfaceelements,likebu5onsandwidgetNtlesandthelike.Butthat’sjustme.

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Hack2:Whenindoubt,chooseoneserifandonesansserif.useaserifforyourtext,andasansserifforyourheadline.Seriffontshavetheli5lebracketsSansdon’t

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Hack3:Choosefontsthatagreewiththemoodofyourbrand.ThinkofyourbrandadjecNvesoryourmissionorthetoneofyourcontent.Lookatthefonts.Dotheysupportthatmood?DotheyatleastNOTcontradictit?[examples]

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Hack4Ingeneral,avoidnoveltyfontsandcheesyhandwriNngfontsunlessyouhavealegitreasontousethem.

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Hack#5Someonehasalreadychosenfontsthatgowelltogetherforyou.Siteswithpre-madefontpairingsreliablepsd.com/ultimate-google-font-pairings https://femmebot.github.io/google-type/

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Hack#6Don’tgetstuckwiththefontsyourthemecomeswith.YoucanaddfontsfromgoogleorotherfreeandpaidserviceswithasmalladdiNontoyourcode.Therearealsoseveralpluginsforaddinggooglefontstoyoursitewithoutneedingtoknowcodeatall.

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Hack#7Justuseoneofthesecombos,they’repre5ymuchalwaysavailable.

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Hack#8:sizeDon’tmakeyourtypetoosmall.Beingabletoreadtexteasilymakespeoplehappy.Iliketokeepmyparagraphtextatleast16pxandmyheadingsthesameorlarger.Inless-importantareas,likefootersorsidebars,youcangosmaller—hierarchyofimportance.

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Hack9:Line-heightErronthesideofspaciousline-height.Itlooksmoreelegantandprofessionalandiseasiertoread.For16pxtypetry24pxline-height.

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Hack#10:UsethecorrectpunctuaNoncharactersWordPressisreallygoodaboutleqngyouaddspecialcharacters(usethekeycommandifyouknowthem,orusethatbu5onthatlookslikeanOmegaintheNnymceeditor).Usingtherightonesmakesyoursitemoreprofessionalandreadable.Believeme,therearepeopleouttherewhowilljudge.Useanemdashtosetoffphrases.(withorwithoutspacearoundbothends,butbeconsistent)UseanendashbetweennumberorNmeranges.Useahyphenforcompoundwords.Usearealellipsescharacterinsteadofthreeperiods.

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Hack#11:DonotputtwospacesaherperiodsThisoneisforusolderpeople.Iknowyou’re6thgradetypingteachertoldyouitwascorrect,butthatwasfortypewriters.Digitalfontshavethecorrectspacingbuiltinaheraperiodsandifyou’reusingtwospaces,it’swaytoomuchandlooksunprofessional.Iwouldbesohappyif2spacesaherperiodsjustwentaway.

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IfyouhavequesNons,lookformeatthehappinessbar.Oraskotherpeopletheretohelpwithyourdesignhappiness.YoucangettheslidesandnotesandahandoutwithallURLs+moreatdurablecreaNve.com/wc17

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